Living Water: Reflections for Lent 3A

When Jesus speaks to the Samaritan Woman about "living water", they are standing next to Jacob's well, a well that had provided God's people with water for over 1000 years. Jesus' term "living water" can be interpreted in so many ways. Jesus, first, asks the woman to give him a drink, which would have required her to dip water from the well with a bucket. In his continuing dialogue with her, Jesus, tells the Samaritan Woman, that she could have asked him for "living water".

Water, by its very nature, is a source of life. Humans can live for only a few days without water. Fresh, uncontaminated water, which we in the US take for granted, is a treasure in other parts of the world. In places where water does not come from a faucet inside the house or bottled at the grocery store, people often walk long distances to use a shared well--a well much like the one Jesus stood beside. When I think of wells, I think of a town in Palestine, not far from Hebron, that I visited on a trip to the Holy Land. We were taken to the town of At-Tuwani by members of the Christian Peacemakers Team. This town is served by a single well. Children and adults get their water by dipping it out with a bucket and transferring it to bottles and other containers. This single source of water in this village has been subjected to contamination in the continuing battle between Palestinian residents and Israeli settlers. Contaminated water is no longer a source of life, but a means of death.

Americans, who have such easy access to clean water, don't give much thought to how hard it is for many people to obtain it. These children, who must haul water uphill from the village well to their homes, understand how precious this living water is. The children in this photo, would have understood the Samaritan Woman's amazement that Jesus, who had no bucket, was offering to give her "living water."

On a metaphorical level, Jesus' "living water" is the gushing water of eternal life. Only Jesus can give this spiritual water. Only by faith, can believers receive this spring of water, planted deep within themselves by God. As Jesus puts it, this spring of water will "gush up to eternal life."

With two millennia of Christian experience, we can also look at Jesus' "living water" as the baptismal water, that is the start of new life in Christ. When water is gushed over us in baptism, we are washed free from sin, the Holy Spirit flows into us, and we are transformed in children of God. As baptized Christians, we live into Jesus' words of "worshipping God in spirit and truth."

Lord, may you give us always, that "living water" that provides life today and eternal life tomorrow. May we live as your children, grateful for your mercy in giving us this "living water." Amen

Epiphany!!

Some thoughts about Epiphany and Baptism of our Lord

This year, in the Church Calendar, the Feast of the Epiphany and the Celebration of the Baptism of our Lord are only three calendar days apart. It seems like an awfully short time between the arrival of the Magi (Kings, Wise Men or Sages) to see the baby Jesus and the beginning of Jesus’ ministry as an adult! In the Gospel of Matthew we move, in one chapter, from the arrival of the Wise Men to the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt to John’s ministry along the Jordan, right to Jesus’ own baptism in the Jordan. We have hardly had a chance to cuddle and coo over the baby, before he is a full grown adult!

What do these two events, the arrival of the Wise Men and the Baptism of Jesus, have in common? These events both reveal something to Matthew’s readers and listeners about Jesus. The Wise Men reveal that a child has been born, who is to be King of the Jews. The way in which Matthew relates the story of the Wise Men leaves no doubt that this child, destined to be King, is indeed the baby Jesus. Matthew also links Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem with prophecies that the Messiah, the ruler who is to shepherd God’s people, would be born in Bethlehem. Very early in this Gospel Matthew uses the story of the Magi to signal the importance of this child.

At the baptism of Jesus, Matthew again signals who Jesus is. First, John wants to refuse to baptize Jesus, claiming that Jesus should baptize him. Then during the Baptism, Matthew’s readers observe a voice from heaven declaring Jesus to be “my Son”.

Two events, two revelations! The first reveals that Jesus has been born King of the Jews and is the fulfillment of the prophecy that the Messiah to be born in Bethlehem. The second reveals Jesus to be the Son of God.

Included among the definitions of “epiphany” are a revealing or a manifestation. Both the arrival of the Wise Men and the Baptism of Jesus reveal to us who Jesus is! Although there is a huge temporal change between the events of the Wise Men and the Baptism of Jesus, both serve Matthew’s purpose of revealing who Jesus is.

Prayer:

Gracious God, in this Epiphany season you reveal your Son to us. Help us to see the light of Christ made evident in our own lives. May our lives be guided by the light that is Christ. Amen

Devotion for the Monday of the Third Week in Advent

Theme for the week: joy

Devotion for the monday of the third Week in Advent (Day 16)

Reading: Psalm 30:1–5 (NRSV)

¹I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me.

²O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.

³O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

⁴Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name.

⁵For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

REFLECTION:

“Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

Have you ever had the experience of worrying and stressing about something at night? Worries and dreaded things seem to take on superhuman proportions at night. Bad stuff seems to weigh more heavily at night and there often seem to be no solutions. Tears that start in the evening often seem to continue long into the night. Loneliness and grief seem to be more powerful at night.

Likewise on a sunny morning, worries seem much more manageable. Some of the stresses seem to evaporate in the daylight and sunshine. It is so much easier to be joyful on a sunny morning than on a rainy night. A summer sunrise gives the whole world a new start, a fresh slate on which God can write new design.

God gives each us a new day and a new start each morning. God’s anger does not last, and neither should our anger, stress, or tears. Let God’s favor help you to start each day anew. Martin Luther wrote how each morning, a new you rises from the waters of baptism--renewed and forgiven. When you wake up and wash your face, remember with joy that you have been baptized and forgiven.

PRAYER:

Gracious God, help me to have joyous mornings and fresh starts. Help me to remember that I have been washed clean in the waters of baptism. Help my relationships with others to have fresh starts each new day. Amen

The Holy Spirit in Baptism

Week 5 Lenten Devotions

Lent Day 26: Thursday March 18

Theme for the Week: Holy Baptism--Baptized We Live

Passage for the Day: Luke 3:21-22a

²¹ Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, ²² and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.

Reflection:

One of the things that I notice in this passage, is that Jesus is praying that the Holy Spirit descends on him. Not while he was being baptized, but while he was processing the entire event in prayer with God, his Father. It is while Jesus is in communication with God and open to the impact of this communication that Spirit comes down to him. We don’t know what Jesus was talking about with God, but we are privy to the answer—the descent of the Spirit. The Spirit is quite active in Luke’s Gospel, starting with the promise that John would be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, continuing with its role in Jesus’ conception, and its descent after Jesus’ baptism. It is the Spirit who leads Jesus around in the wilderness for 40 days. At his death on the cross, according to Luke’s account, Jesus gives up his Spirit. In Luke’s book of Acts, the Holy Spirit descends onto the disciples at Pentecost appearing as tongues of fire.

The Holy Spirit, in the event of Jesus’ baptism, has a bodily, presumably visible and touchable form. The form like a dove is reminiscent of the dove that Noah sent out to check if the flood had ended. The dove guided Noah and his family by revealing when it was safe to leave the ark. The only reference to a dove in the New Testament is in all four Gospel writers’ accounts of Jesus’ baptism. The dove, whether seen only by Jesus and/or John or by all the people present, is the means by which God chose to signal the presence of the Holy Spirit with Jesus. This is the same Holy Spirit who enters into each one of us at our baptisms and in whose name we are baptized. This is the same Holy Spirit that Jesus sent to us to guide us and to advocate for us for all time.

Prayer Themes:

Thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Pray that I may be able to sense the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life. Pray that I will listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Pray for the presence of the Spirit in the lives of people who have become estranged from God.

Baptized with the Holy Spirit and Fire

Week 5 Lenten Devotions

Lent Day 25: Wednesday March 17

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

Theme for the Week: Holy Baptism--Baptized We Live

This week we will be reflecting on the gift of baptism and what baptism means in our lives.

Passage for the Day: Luke 3:16

¹⁶ John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Reflection:

What does it mean to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire?

Jesus Christ, the Messiah whose coming that John was prophesying, called on his followers to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised his followers the gift of the Holy Spirit as an Advocate and Counselor. Christians, as Jesus’ followers throughout the ages, have been baptized according to his command. Although water is the visible element used in Christian baptism (either through submersion or by pouring water on the person’s head), we believe that the Holy Spirit descends into a person at his or her baptism. This is a baptism that is good forever. Even though the water dries, after baptism, I am permanently changed. The gift of the Holy Spirit never ends for me. Because baptism lasts forever, each day I can call on the Holy Spirit to forgive my sins and to guide me through another day.

To be baptized with fire, is likely another reference to the Holy Spirit. On Pentecost, the Spirit descended onto the disciples like tongues of fire. The Spirit is a fiery presence in my life, refining and purifying me daily.

Prayer Themes: Thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit that entered my life in baptism. Pray for the refining and purifying action of the Spirit in my life. Pray that I might hear and respond to the Holy Spirit’s ongoing guidance. Pray for those preparing for baptism in this Lenten season and for those who are newly baptized.